Alligators in the sewer,dragons in the well and Freud in the toilet

One of the most popular of all urban legends is the story about alligators in the sewers of New York (abbreviated AIS story). While previous investigations have been concerned with the historical origins of AIS stories, this article is concerned with developing a psychoanalytic explanation which accounts for the continuing popularity of such stories. In developing such an explanation, this article makes use of the association between‘penis’ and ‘feces,’ an association that is very likely among the earliest associations formed in the human mind. Given the penis = feces association, and given Freud's suggestion that the young child will typically take defecation as a model for castration, it is argued that AIS stories are ultimately concerned with castration. The fact that ‘castration’ has different connotations for males and females helps to explain some of the details invariably incorporated into an AIS story. Finally, the argument developed in connection with modern AIS stories is used to provide a new perspective upon traditional English stories about dragons.     

Economic socialization in the kibbutz and the town in Israel

This study compared the economic understanding and attitudes of children living in the city with those living in a kibbutz, collective villages where an extreme socialist lifestyle is practised and preached. The differences in the answer patterns of the urban and kibbutz children were not very large, but the pattern was clear, and in keeping with the dominant ideology in both places: socialist in the kibbutz, middle-class capitalist in the city.     

Adjustment Differences in the Divorced and the Redivorced

The increasing rate of redivorce makes it necessary to compare adjustment differences and needs of the redivorced and the once-divorced. This study utilizes a mail survey of a singles' organization in Dayton, Ohio to make this comparison. The hypothesis that those experiencing support resources, activities, attachments, and fairness will make positive adjustments to divorce was supported for the divorced female and, on the negative side, for the redivorced male. The findings indicate that the combination of divorce experience, gender roles and the hypothesized elements is important for divorce adjustment.     

Cross-National Differences in Charitable Giving in the West and the World

Most theories of cross-national variation in charitable giving have been tested only on samples of countries of Western European culture; this paper applies these theories to 114 countries, including 93 non-Western countries, using data from the Gallup World Poll. It finds strong support for economic and political theories of cross-national variation in charitable giving and partial support for religious and cultural theories. Theories effectively predict variation in giving in middle income non-Western countries but poorly predict variation in low-income non-Western countries. This suggests that economic development, not cultural or religious differences, separate non-Western countries from Western ones in patterns of giving behavior.     

Reviewing the Relationship Between the Voluntary Sector and the State in Britain in the 1990s

There have been three major analytical reviews that have examined the voluntary–statutory relationship during the 1990s, one undertaken by government in 1990 and the other two independently in 1993 and 1996. This article suggests that an historical understanding of this relationship (especially in terms of its sociopolitical dimensions) is crucial, but was missing from the 1990 review and misrepresented by the 1993 review. The 1996 document has been subjected to harsh criticism, but it was arguably sounder in its understanding of this fundamental issue. The national compact between representatives of the voluntary sector and the state, launched at the end of 1998, has built upon the arguments put forward in 1996. However, the paper suggests that given the vexed history of partnership between the sectors and the extent to which the statutory sector has become the dominant partner at the end of the 20th century, it would be premature to be overly optimistic. The paper examines three major shifts in the voluntary–statutory relationship during the 20th century, before reviewing the 1990s' documents in more detail.     

In the Enchanted Grove: Financial Conversations and the Marketplace in England and France in the 18th Century

The paper examines conversations in the 18th-century London and Paris financial marketplaces. The aim is to highlight the place of conversations as the key form of interaction in the marketplace, and to evaluate financial conversations against the broader cultural background of literary and scientific dialogues of the time. The relevance of this enterprise is that it leads to a better understanding of how the verbal interactions of the marketplace shape transaction outcomes and contribute to forms of rationality specific for financial markets. Grounded in the analysis of empirical material, the paper distinguishes between conversations-qua-transactions and conversations-about-the-world. It shows how they produce and require specific forms of knowledge from the participants; at the same time, they shape the transactions' outcomes. On this basis, the paper argues that the phenomenon of sudden mood swings in the marketplace cannot be entirely explained in irrational, psychological terms, but must be seen as the outcome of a particular conversational system.     

Analysis of the Unicorn and Flowers in The Unicorn in the Garden

Thurber is famous for his satirical and humorous words,with which he always mocks the relations between humans.This fable is a famous one to disclose the relation between the husband and wife in upper class.This article focuses on the fable and gives detail analyses of the unicorn and the three kinds of flowers:rose,lily and tulip which indicates purity and love etc.And these indicate the deep resource and deep meaning of each image.With the help of it,we can see through the fable and find the true meaning of the story and the intention of the writer.The analyses help us to uncover the false veil,and have a deep understanding of the relation between the upper class.     

北京、广东两省市城中村改造的经验与借鉴

通过对北京、广东两省市城中村改造的成效、模式及经验的调研,着重总结两地经验对上海城中村改造工作的有益启示。同时,对上海城中村改造工作提出思考和建议：解放思想,着力破解城中村改造难题;从实际出发,创新相关支持政策;开展试点,做好政策储备;动态地调整上海土地利用总体规划。     

大学生微信使用情况调查

微信作为最新的社交软件风靡当下,对大学生的学习、生活产生了深刻的影响。对西安大学生微信使用状况的调查发现,大学生对微信具有较高的接受度和满意度,大学生对微信具有一定依赖性,同辈群体依然是他们微信的主要交往对象,大学生在微信朋友圈的主要行为集中于阅读、点赞和发表情。尽管不同大学生群体在微信使用和交流上存在差异,微信已成为大学生对外沟通的主要媒介,淡化了他们学习和生活的时间边界,使得他们难以摆脱微信的影响。     

Violence in the Brazilian favelas and the role of the police

Institutions should normally have an integrative influence. The family, for example, has the task of protecting and giving socio-emotional support to children, and schools should prepare young people for their future. Ideally the common goal of all of society's institutions is to secure the integration of youth and prevent or intervene against deviant behavior. But sometimes institutions provoke or even cause juvenile delinquency. The article discusses institutional influences and the role of the police in the criminal and violent situation in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.Starting with an overview of the origins and the development of violence, crime, and drug trafficking in the favelas, the authors show how these slums arose. Their analysis examines the lack of a state presence with an integration policy to avoid social disintegration. Instead of social integration policy, there is a dual approach that both controls and produces violence. The article also presents the first results of a government attempt in 2000 to introduce a new police unit to stop the violence and improve the social opportunity structure of the residents of the favelas, especially young people.     

Swaying in time and space: the Chinese Diaspora in the Caribbean and its literary perspectives

Despite that the Chinese in the Caribbean, unlike Africans or East Indians, is vaguely impressive in terms of racial and social impact; their stance and viewpoint are quite unique and insightful. Willi Chen and Jan Lowe Shinebourne, representing Chinese Caribbean Diaspora, are impressive enough with its strong literary impact. They both show the ambivalence acquired in the process of ‘positioning’, as well as the strong heritage of their ancestral mother land of China. Chen’s work is characteristic with its neutral stance of Chinese characters, and Shinebourne makes her protagonists wander with intermingling sense of tradition and progression. This ambivalence, however, can become a positive sway between groups which may be different, conflictive, or even hostile to each other, and that sway can bring a righteous and truthful judgment to the matter. The Chinese Caribbean writings contribute with the dialectic philosophies included in and inherited from Chinese traditions.     

《古兰经》和圣训中的伊斯兰经济思想

伊斯兰经济思想是关于阿拉伯-伊斯兰社会经济问题理论和观点的统称。其渊源主要依据《古兰经》和圣训,以伊斯兰信仰和道德伦理为基本特点。伊斯兰积极入世的思想,对社会、经济、生活均有指导和干预作用,因此,其经济思想、理论、实践都受《古兰经》和圣训教诲的制约。无论是过去还是现在,以《古兰经》和圣训为核心的伊斯兰经济思想对阿拉伯-伊斯兰世界经济理论及其实践都有着直接的影响。     

Enriching the Group and Investigation in the Intercultural Classroom

Cooperative learning requires teachers to change their traditional role as transmitters of information and take on the role of guides and facilitators in the cooperative learning process. As they gain confidence in this role teachers adopt more diverse and complex cooperative procedures. When they feel that their students are used to working together to achieve academic goals, they can introduce Group Investigation as an additional cooperative learning method. Investigating in groups calls for students to apply basic cooperative learning skills to the planning of what they want to study and how they want to study. Students cooperate in carrying out their investigation, in planning how to integrate and present their findings, and, together with the teacher, collaborate in evaluating their academic and interpersonal effort.

Group Investigation places much of the responsibility for learning on the students, but the teacher must know how to prepare for the investigation project, how to prepare the students, and how to facilitate the project as it unfolds. Because the content of a Group Investigation project is determined by the diversity of the students’ interests, experiences and prior knowledge, it is the cooperative learning strategy most suited for interdisciplinary studies in an intercultural classroom.